Chapter 2 - Birthday Presents

Soon It was April 9th, Natalie's 20th Birthday. Luckily for her, she didn't have any classes nor work shifts that day. Natalie and a few of her friends, including Margret, decided to go to the mall to watch a movie. Soon after they went shopping. It was a fun day but they were getting hungry and tired. Natalie decided to order a pizza and drive back to her mother's house along with her friends.

"Happy birthday Natalie, how was the movie?" Claire asked as she opened the door.

"It was great! Anyways is the cake ready?" Natalie answered. As she entered the house she noticed a few decorations and a few presents laying on the table. Everyone started flooding into the house and put their gifts on the table. Meanwhile, Claire was putting the cake on the table and setting up the candles.

"Mom! You really didn't have to do all of this! Everything looks wonderful, where did you even buy these flowers? They're gorgeous!" Natalie said walking towards a vase with morning glory flowers. She stared at them in awe as she gently held them up to the light. Natalie loved plants and flowers, especially morning glories.

"Oh, a friend of mine moved to town a couple of weeks ago. She opened a flower shop but I didn't have time to visit her. So I thought today would be the perfect day. Plus, I know how much you love morning glories." Claire said, lighting the candles.

Eventually, everyone gathered around Natalie and sang happy birthday. After messing around and eating cake it was finally time for Natalie to open her birthday presents. One by one she opened and admired every single one of her gifts. She went through the very small pile of gifts eventually making it to her mother's gifts. First, she opened up a box of jewelry and the second gift was a box filled with… Dolls?

"Mom you know I'm a little too old to be playing with dolls right? Haha, they are quite cute though." Natalie said as she pulled out one of the puppets. She, even though she was too old to play with them, did love the gift. It reminded her of her childhood plus they were super cute, she could use them as decorations or something.

"I know, I know. I just thought they were adorable and they reminded me of how much you loved to play with dolls. If you don't like them I can return them and get you something else." Claire said looking down at the floor holding her right arm. She even had a pure smile on her face from remembering the past, although it did look a bit pained.

"Oh, no no! I love the gifts! Thanks, mom for the dolls." Natalie said, putting down one of the dolls. She walked over to her mom with a sweet smile and hugged her tight.

Soon it started to get late so everyone left and went home. Natalie and her mother were both tired so they decided to clean the mess up later and head to bed. Natalie was done with her nightly routine when she decided to head downstairs to grab a bottle of water. She went down the stairs as quickly and as quietly as possible to not wake up her mother. As she reached the floor she noticed that some of the mess from the party seemed to be cleaned.

'Maybe I'm just imagining things?' Natalie thought as she walked over to the kitchen. She quickly grabbed two water bottles out of the fridge. She felt a creepy vibe so she quickly ran upstairs and into her room. Right as she closed the door to her room she breathed a sigh of relief. Natalie quickly sipped some water and went straight to bed.

The next day Natalie woke up to a wonderful smell. She decided to do her morning routine first before checking what her mother was cooking. Soon after she walked downstairs and greeted her mother in the kitchen. Natalie also noticed that there were no signs of the party from last night. Her mother's house looked cleaner than ever, almost like it was brand new!

"Did I sleep in too late? How did you clean the mess up from yesterday so quickly? Oh, look! You even organized all my gifts from yesterday neatly on the dining room table!" Natalie said walking over to her pile of gifts on the dining room table.

"Honey, did you hit your head or are you boasting about what you've done? I didn't clean anything from last night, I went straight to sleep. Didn't you clean the mess from last night?" Claire said with a confused face. She grabbed a plate from one of the cabinets and placed the pancakes she made on them.

"Oh, and here's your breakfast. I already ate mine." Claire said handing the plate to Natalie as she started to wash dishes. Natalie sat down at the kitchen counter and ate slowly as she thought. She knew she went straight to sleep last night. Who knows? Maybe she did clean up the mess and was too tired to remember it. Or maybe she slept cleaned? Maybe this was all just in her head.

"Thanks, mom, for breakfast. I should start packing my things and head back to my apartment in a few days though. I can't live with you forever or cause you too much trouble." Natalie said as she walked over to the sink and started to wash the plate she used.

"Alright then sweetie, just remember, you have Buttons with you. He'll take down that vile creature for you." Claire said as she walked upstairs and left Natalie to do the rest of the dishes.

"Ha, funny! He's the laziest cat I've ever met!" Natalie yelled from the kitchen to her mother. Unluckily, a certain thick fluff-ball was listening in on their conversations from behind the counter. And he did not like it.

Buttons jumped onto the kitchen counter and waited for the perfect moment to strike. A few seconds before his attack, Natalie finished the dishes and turned around to the kitchen counter. She knew she messed up, reasoning will no longer do her any good.